Sweeper



0&7, 1924- 1,510,880

A. W. AITKEN STREET SWEEPER 7 Filed July 18 1921 2 Sheets-Sheet l Oct. 7, v1 1 A. w. AITKEN STREET SWEEPER Filed July 18 1921 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented 7, 1924.

UNIT

ANDREW w. AI'IKEN, or SPRINGFIELD, onto, AssIGNoR TO THE SPRINGFIEL MOTOR sWEEPEn conrnnv, or srnriverrEnnonrO, A coaPoBAtrIon-or oHIo.

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Application filed July 18,

street sweepers of the type which employs vertically arranged sweeping brooms for performing the sweeping operation and a horizontally arranged pick-up broom and elevator to convey the sweepings to a tank carried on the frame of the machine.

An object of my invention is to provide a novel arrangement of the sweeping brooms whereby the sweepings will be deposited in a windrow midway the line of travel of the -machine whereby they may be picked up by a broom and an elevator of comparatively narrow width. 1

A further object of myinventionis to provide a novel arrangement of elevator for conveying the sweepings from the pickup broom to a tank so disposed that the sweepings will be carried into the forward end of the tank and from thence deposited rearwardly therein to enable me to locate the tank at the rear end of the'machine out of the way of the operating parts.

In the accompanying drawings Fig. 1 is a side elevation. V

Fig. 2 is a top plan view with the bottom of the tank removed.

Referring to the drawings, 1 represents theside members of the main frame of the machine upon which the sweeper mechanism is mounted, 2 the front carrying wheels and 3 the rear drive wheels. This machine is constructed very similar to a. tractor so far as propulsion and power application is concerned, 4: representing the power unit sur-f mounted by the usual gas tank 5. The rear wheels 3 are driven from shafts (not shown) which areconnected in the usual way with the differential gearing inthe housing 6,

motion being transmitted through the sprockets 7 on the outer ends of said shafts, 1 sprocket chains 8, and sprockets 9 on the hubs of the wheels 3. r

The sweeping brooms proper are four in number 10, 11, 12and 13 and the particular arrangement of the same is one of-the features of the invention.

Each broom is 0011-,

1921. Serial No."485,414.

structed in a well known way by employing a circular head carrying bristles of-wire or other suitable material and the heads are connected with shafts 14 mounted to rotate in suitable'bearings 15 on the main frame, but slidable vertically therethrou'gh. The, two forward brooms 10 and 11 form one pair and are disposed directly opposite-each other at points sufliciently separated to give the widest sweeping range desired. The rear brooms 12 and 13 also constitute a pair,;the brooms bemg set. opposite each other and placed at points between the sweeping surfaces of the brooms 10 and 11so as t-o-.re ceive the sweeplngs from these latter brooms and throw-them into a windrow midway} the line of travel of the machine. Theshaft of eachof the broom-s is disposed at an angle to the vertical so that the forward portion only of thebroom touches the ground and the driving devices for the brooms are, soarranged that the ones -10 and 12v revolve clockwise and 11 and 13 counter clockwise, as viewed in Fig. 2. v 7 p These brooms are operated asfollows: A power take-off shaft, driven in any usual. way from the power'unit, is shown at 16. This shaft has a pinion 17 (shown in dotted linesin Fig. 1) which'meshes with agear 18 on a short countershaft 19 supportedfin a bracket20. This shaft has a gear 21, meshing with a gear 22 on a shaft 23 mount ed in the bracket 20. v Theshaft 23 has on its outer .end a beveled gear 24L, meshing with a beveled gear25 on the upper'end ofthe shaft 14 of the broom 11 wherebymotion is imparted to thisbroom. I

Arranged in brackets .26 in atransverse direction across the machine is a countershaft 27 whichis driven from the power. take-off. shaft through the medium of sprockets 28 and 2 9 and sprocket chain 30.' The counter-shaft 27 drives ,atransversely arranged broom shaft 31 through the gears v 32 and 33, supported'in bearingsBi on a cross-frame member 35'. Each end of this shaft 31 has a beveled gear 36, which gears mesh. with beveled gears 37 on-thef shafts 1 1 of the respective brooms 12 and 13,- thus imparting rotary movements to these brooms. p 1 a 1 v The shaft 31 drives another broom shaft 38 through the sprocket wheels 39 and 4 0 and chain 41, and this shaft38has1on its outer end beveled pinion 42 meshing with of the operator.

a beveled gear 43 on the shaft 14 of the broom 10, thus imparting rotary motion to this shaft.

Loosely mounted on the shaft 27 are two rearwardly extending arms 44, and rotatably mounted in the rear ends of these arms is a horizontal cylindrical pick-up broom 45 of any suitable construction; this broom being driven through the medium of a sprocket wheel 46 on the shaft 27, sprocket wheel 47 on the shaft 48 of'the broom, and chain 49. The purpose of this broom is to plck up the sweepings from the forward brooms and convey them onto an elevator now to be de scribed; this pick-up broom rotating counter-clockwise, as viewed in Fig. 1. I

Located on the rear part of the mam frame. is a tank 50 of any suitable construction, having an inclined bottom 51, this bottom being shown in dot-ted hnes in Fig. 1, but being omitted in Fig. 2 to more clearly show some of the other parts. The bottom terminates at a point removed from the front end of the tank and leading from the pick-up broom to the forward. edge of the bottom is an elevator in the nature of an endless belt 52 of any suitable construction which passes about a roll 53 at its lower end and a roll 54 at its upper end. The roll 58 is supported in depending brackets 55, from the side arms 44, while the upper roll is supported by the tank. The belt is driven from the broom shaft 38, through the sprocket wheel 56 on said shaft, chain 57,

" and sprocket wheel 58, on the shaft 54 of the roll 54.

As the sweepings traveling up the belt reach a point above the bottom of the tank, they are thrown rearwardly in the tank by a rotary broom 59, mounted on a shaft 59, mounted on a shaft 60 supported in the side walls of the tank above the upper belt roll 54. This: broom is driven in a clockwise direction from the roll shaft 51 through the sprocket wheels 61 and 62 and chain 63.

The sweeping brooms are controlled by a series of levers so that they may be elevated free from the ground for transportation or lowered to the ground and held in proper working relation therewith. Each of the shafts 14 of the respective brooms has a groove 64 to receive the forked end of one arm 65 of a bell-crank, the other arm 66 of which extend to within convenient reach shown) are provided to hold the parts in different positions of adjustment. A fifth lever 68 is employed to control the elevator and pick-up broom, this lever being connected by a link 69 to one arm of a lever 70, pivoted to the main frame, the other arm of which is pivotally connected to one of the broom supporting arms 44.

In operation, the brooms and elevator are lowered to proper working position by Racks 67 and pawls (not manipulating the control levers. The forward brooms 10 and 11 throw the sweepings inwardly into the path of the rear brooms 12 and 13 which in turn throw the sweepings against a centrally-arranged wall 71 which is supported in any suitable way from the main frame and projects to within a short distance of the ground, which leaves the sweepings in the form of a windrow extending midway the line of travel of the machine. The pick-up broom at the rear of the machine then conveys the sweepings onto the endless belt which elevates them to the discharge broom at the upper end thereof, which broom acts to throw the sweepings rearwardly into the tank.

By this construction it will be noted that I am enabled to employ pick-up devices in the nature of a rotating pick-up broom and elevator which are comparatively narrow in width and centrally-arranged on the machine, for the reason that the sweeping brooms are so constructed and arranged as to throw the sweepings in the form of a windrow extending midway the line of travel of the machine. Further, that by the arrangement of the elevator in its relation to the tank, I am enabled to place the tank at the rear of the frame of the machine out of the way of the operating parts, which arrangements provide for a compact structure as a whole.

While I have shown sweeping brooms arranged on opposite sides of the machine in connection with a centrally-arranged wall 71 to arrest the sweepings and arrange them in the form of a windrow, yet in some types of sweepers good results are secured by sweeping brooms arranged upon but one side of the machine and operating in conjunction with this longitudinally-extending wall or abutment which may be either centrally-arranged or arranged at one side of the machine.

Having thus described my invention, I claim 1. 111 a sweeper of the character described, a plurality of sweeping brooms arranged in pairs, one pair being located in the rear of another pair and between the sweeping surfaces of the forward pair, each. of said brooms being rotatable in planes inclined from the vertical, the direction of rotation of said brooms being such as to project the sweepings inwardly toward the longitudinal center of the machine, and pick-up apparatus in the rear of said brooms.

2. In a sweeper of the character described, a plurality of sweeping brooms inclined to the vertical together with means for rotating said brooms in a direction to project the sweepings toward the longitudinal center of the machine, said brooms being arranged in pairs with the brooms of each pair on the opposite sides of the longitudinal center of ter of the machine than those of the. forward air. p 3. In an apparatus of the character described, a plurality of sweeping brooms having their axes of rotation inclined to the vertical, said brooms being arranged in pairs with the rear pair between the sweeping surfacesof the forward pair, means for rotating said brooms so that one of the brooms of each pair revolves clock-wise and the other broom of that pair counter-clockwise to project the sweepings toward the longitudinal center of the machine.

' 4. In a structure of the character described, a plurality of sweeping brooms arranged in pairs, the brooms of each pair being on opposite sides of the machine with the brooms of the rear pair between the sweeping surfaces of those of the forward pair, a horizontal broom in the rear of said sweeping brooms, an elevator in proximity to said horizontal broom to receive the sweepings therefrom, and a tank at the upper end of the elevator.

5. In a sweeper of the character described, a single elevator in the form of an endless belt extending forwardly and upwardly from a point in proximity to the ground line at the rear end of the sweeper means for depositing the sweepings uponthe lower end of said elevator, a tank at the rear end of the sweeper having an inclined bottom wall, said'elevator being extended to a point in proximity to the forward side of said tank and terminating above the upper edge of said inclined bottom, and means for forcibly discharging the sweepings directly from said elevator rearwardly into said tank.

v 6. In a sweeper of the character described, a single elevator in the form. of an endless belt, means for depositing the sweepings on the lower end of said elevator, a tank at the rear end of said sweeper, said elevator being projected forwardly and upwardly and terminating at a point adjacent an opening at the forward side of said tank leading to the interior thereof, and a rotatable discharger located at the upper end of said elevator forforcibly discharging sweepings directly therefrom rearwardly into said tank. In testimony whereof, I'have hereunto set my hand this 15th day of July, 1921. v

ANDREW w. AITKEN. 

